Schlage door latches are the leading brand of door hardware in America. They’re made with a quality that is unmatched by many other manufacturers. While they are fairly easy to install and don’t require any real knowledge of how to work with them, there are times when you might run into a problem with your Schlage door latch. One of these problems is when it won’t retract after you’ve unlocked it.
If this happens, you may want to try some troubleshooting steps before calling a locksmith or replacing the entire unit.
Schlage Door Latch Not Retracting – Repair Guide
1. Checking the Problem Area
The first thing you want to do when this happens is check for any foreign objects that may be stuck in between the lock cylinder and its striker plate on your door frame. This could be anything from gum wrappers, to pieces of paper from newspapers, or even dust and dirt. If there’s something caught between these two areas, it will prevent the lock from retracting properly. Remove whatever you find and then test your lock again. If this doesn’t work, then you’ll need to take apart the entire latch assembly and make sure nothing else is causing problems with its function.
2. Hit the Latch with a Hammer
If your Schlage door latch is not retracting properly, try hitting it with a hammer several times to dislodge anything that may be stuck inside. You might need to gently pry apart the sides of the latch to expose its interior parts so you can see what’s causing your problem.
This hammer hack might solve your problem because what it does is that it will loosen up any dirt or debris that is holding it in place so that it will retract again when you try again later on down the road!
3. Use Compressed Air
If your Schlage door latch isn’t retracting properly and you can’t find anything stuck inside it, try blowing compressed air into its inner workings until nothing comes out anymore (usually about six shots). This will hopefully dislodge any debris inside.
4. Mechanism Damage Inspection
If something has happened to the locking mechanism itself, then it could prevent your Schlage door from retracting properly when you open or close it. Check for any broken or worn parts inside of your door latch mechanism. These could include springs, bushings or other small pieces that may need to be replaced to get everything working again properly. You’ll need to have this repaired by a locksmith in order for things to work correctly again.
5. Examine and Repair The Spindle On The Chassis
The most common reason for this problem is that the spindle has become loose and needs to be tightened back into place. If you tighten it enough, then you should be able to get the deadbolt to retract again. Take off the handle and look at the inside of it where there are two screws holding it together. Remove these screws so that you can take off this part completely and then look at how it works when you put pressure on it with your hand. You should be able to see what’s going on here if there is any problem with this part of the mechanism. Check out how much space there is between each side of this part and make sure that there isn’t too much space between them before putting everything back together again and then trying to open your door again by pushing.
Final Thoughts
You can fix easily fix your Schlage door latch that won’t retract by following the above troubleshooting methods. But the causes might differ for everyone so use the method that matches your problem and do it after a thorough check.
Even after doing a quick fix of your problem, if it still persists make sure to contact the Schlage customer service. Because it’s possible that there is something wrong with the internal mechanism of the lock.
We hope that this article was helpful for you!
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